Missing Year
by historyrepeatsitself
Summary: Hiccup has been on his own for six months, after the disastrous sword fighting competition, he has been struggling to survive on his own. Wodensfang, Toothless, and Windwalker accompany him, but Hiccup still remains isolated and alone, running for his life from his arch nemesis Alvin the Treacherous. {Hurt/Comfort fic, Rated K for suicide mention}
1. Missing Year

**This is basically my take on a small part of Hiccup's time as an outcast. I tried to keep everyone in character as much as I could. So yeah, enjoy! 3**

 **-History**

* * *

 **Missing Year**

The trees seem to whisper in hushed tones before him, their branches waving ominously creating shadows of monsters at his feet. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third shivered as a cold wind blew around him. This night was especially cold in the archipelago, Hiccup hoped it was even too cold for search parties, though just as a precaution he had blown out the fire and was now laying curled up inside the Windwalker's wings, waiting for another sleepless night. Toothless seemed the only one completely unaffected by the life of an outcast, his slept just as soundly as ever on Hiccup's chest, gently blowing small smoke rings up into the night. The Wodensfang slept beside Hiccup, he seemed to have just drifted off and was snoring quietly, his old shriveled body curled up against the cold. The Windwalker stood over all of them, his head curling around them, his eyes were closed and Hiccup could feel his breathing slowing into the steady hum of sleep. Hiccup leaned was leaned against the Windwalker's neck, using the soft scales as a pillow. He tried to follow the Windwalker's slow breathing, desperately trying to lure his body into sleep. Just as he was closing his eyes his heart gave a frantic pumping, jolting him upright again, his vision blurry from the lack of sleep.

Toothless seemed undisturbed by Hiccup's sudden movement and continued to sleep on, his small body much like a warm boulder against Hiccup. Hiccup wished he could sleep as soundly as Toothless, but his mind seemed to think something very different and elected to wander into the darkness. Hiccup strained his eyes and peered into the looming shadows of the shallow cave they were sleeping in and out into the forest surrounding them. The trees whispered their quiet song and Hiccup peering into their depths. Was that an Alvinsmen peering at him in the dark? Hiccup swore he could see a movement in the shadows. Were there more out there? Should he tell the dragons? Hiccup could feel his heart pounding faster and faster, his chest felt heavy and his breaths felt shorter. He panted, desperately trying to stay calm. _Probably nothing. It's just my mind playing tricks on me._

"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third," came a cool voice from the shadows, Hiccup jumped, desperately straining to see the speaker of the voice, he whirled desperately looking around the cave but there was no one. Impossible, Alvin must have a stealth dragon or something, he was here, Hiccup had heard him.

Hiccup shook as he gazed around the cave, should he wake Wodensfang? He would know what to do right? Would he be mad Hiccup had woken him up? Probably. What could he do anyways? They were alone.

Hiccup found himself shaking harder, he wished he were back on Berk, back home. He wished that he had just said goodnight to his father and was heading to bed, smuggling Toothless in his waistcoat. He wished that he was sitting in his own bed on Berk, Toothless asleep on his chest, as usual, a warm presence in the cold room. He wished that he could still hear the shouts of late night party goers heading home as he waited to fall asleep. He wished he could hear his father downstairs, maybe even his mother. He wished he could hear them talking, he wished he could hear the wood floors creaking with their footsteps.

But that was gone. Berk had been burned to the ground by Furious' troops, Hiccup's childhood home was nothing more than a couple splinters now. He tore his mind away from the thoughts, desperately trying to focus on the current problem.

There was someone here, there had to be, Hiccup had heard someone. But the more Hiccup peered into the darkness the more he felt that the voices and movement had been a figment of his imagination. He should sleep. It was late, Hiccup worried that the sun was only a few hours away from reaching the horizon. He laid his head down on Windwalker's tail and closed his eyes desperately trying to sleep.

To his relief, the world slowly faded to blackness as Hiccup closed his eyes. He could feel his breathing slowing into the slow drone of sleep. But the calming darkness didn't stay for very long. Soon fire consumed him, his entire body felt hot, he looked down and saw that his legs had been consumed in a bright red flame, its fingers grabbing at his ratty old fire suit; it barely served as clothes anymore, the old suit was torn badly all over, the sleeves barely even existent. It was so worn out it offered little protection against the flame. Hiccup tried to move but found that he was tied to a tall wooden mast that was standing in the middle of the fire, slowly burning with him. Heavy metal chains were wrapped across the boy, their cold gray slowly turning to an orange as the flame burned brighter and brighter. Hiccup struggled, desperately trying to creep out from the chains but they held fast.

He frantically scanned the world around him looking for someone to help but all he was greeted with was a plane of fire. He screamed, desperately crying for help. "Fishlegs? Camicazi? Toothless? Wodensfang? Windwalker" he yelled out into the blaze, but there was no response.

He could feel himself blacking out from the heat, his skin burning in the fire. But just before the world faded he heard a voice, "They're gone," whispered the cold voice. "They're dead." There was cackle from behind him and he felt a hand close around his throat.

"Soon you'll be joining them." Came another voice, higher pitched and female. Hiccup knew that voice; Alvin and the Witch.

"Goodbye, Hiccup." Said Alvin above the crackling fire.

"NO!" Hiccup yelled, struggling against Alvin's grasp. "NO, NO, NO!"

But the burning inferno was gone. They were gone. Everything was gone.

" **Hiccup!** " He felt a claw against his face, " **Hiccup!** " came the voice again. " **Hiccup wake up!"**

Hiccup opened his eyes, the Wodensfang was crouched over him, his old wrinkled brown face riddled with concern. The Windwalker hovered above him, his brow creased in soft lines of concern and Toothless sat on Hiccup's chest, his large green eyes staring directly into Hiccup's blue. Toothless' eyes looked large and scared, in the dimly lit cave, they seemed to emanate a soft green light. " **H-h-hiccup? Are you a-a-alright?** " his stammer seemed more prominent than normal as he spoke. His small body appearing to quiver and Hiccup wondered if it was because of him.

" **Yes Toothless, I'm alright.** " Hiccup said shakily, though he could still feel the fire against his skin.

" **Are you quite sure, Hiccup?** " Wodensfang's old voice seem to have a bit of a quiver of its own. " **You seemed quite ill only a moment ago …"** The old dragon trailed off as he looked at Hiccup his eyes seeming to darken with an unknown understanding.

Even the Windwalker, though he said nothing seemed to be worried for Hiccup. Hiccup himself wondered what he had done to cause them to worry so much. " **Guys I'm alright.** " He whispered, desperately trying to keep his voice level, " **Really, I just had a bad dream, I didn't mean to wake you all.** "

" **B-b-but you d-did**." Said Toothless, looking at him with those big green eyes, " **Y-you woke us up because of s-s-something's wrong. T-toothless knows it**." Hiccup smiled weakly as Toothless seemed to be doing his very best to console him.

" **Toothless, I'm okay. There's no need to worry, really. It was just a bad dream**."

" **Hiccup** ," said Wodensfang slowly, " **We've been out here nearly six months.** " Again, the old dragon seemed to trail off in a sense of worry.

" **And?** " asked Hiccup

" **Hiccup you've been alone for six months, on the run, practically trapped in a cave!** " Wodensfang exclaimed with worry.

" **I haven't been alone,** " said Hiccup, " **You all are here**."

" **Yes, but you haven't been with other Vikings in ages, Hiccup. Is that even normal for a human? Hiccup humans are different than dragons!** " Wodensfang seemed to be heading into one of his fits.

" **It's fine Wodensfang, besides it's not like we can really go anywhere.** " He laughed, a bit sarcastically, and Wodensfang raised an eyebrow at Hiccup's exclamation.

" **Hiccup I'm worried. Honestly, this situation is by no means good for anyone but humans are very different than dragons and I worry that you're going to be sick Hiccup. It's no surprise to anyone that this is the most stressful on you and being under that kind of pressure and torment for that long isn't good for anyone.** " Wodensfang was nearly hopping up and down in agitation at this point. All his spines were on edge with worry.

" **Humans shouldn't be alone.** "

They all turned the find the source of the voice. It was Windwalker who had spoken, his voice was soft and filled with a worry brought on by memories. **"Back on the Lava-Lout islands, they had a few jailers there, Vikings to control us dragons. Many left and soon there was only one left, he stayed with us and tried to control us, he tried to keep the other prisoners there too. But as the months turned into years he started to go crazy. It was slow, but eventually he-he-** "the Windwalker stammered, his voice growing softer, " **he slit his own throat and then we were alone.**

" **I left shortly after that, many of the remaining prisoners did. The island was abandoned for many years, of course then Alvin the Treacherous took over a few years later—but you already know that story.** " The Windwalker shook as he finished the story. Clearly, the words were bringing back harsh memories.

Hiccup gulped, he had never known that the jailkeeper had gone insane. He shuddered the think what it must've been like on that island. "But he couldn't speak Dragonese, right Wodensfang?" Hiccup asked, his voice growing soft in the early hours of the day.

" **No.** " The Windwalker admitted, " **but he wasn't being hunted by the entire archipelago either**."

" **Windwalker has a point**." Said Wodensfang after a long time. " **We're worried, Hiccup. We know that something is wrong and it's okay.** " Hiccup shrugged weakly, though the burned sensation had worn off he still felt weakened since the dream.

 **"** **I just—I miss home I guess.** " He mumbled, " **I miss Berk, I miss my father, I even miss Gobber's classes! I miss having to get up and go out in the freezing cold to go fail at being a Viking. I miss Fishlegs, I miss sitting with him after class. I miss having days off and taking Toothless to go play with Fishlegs and Horrowcow. I miss visiting wild dragon cliff. I miss writing. I miss trying to study dragons. I miss early mornings before the sun had risen and during the spring I could sit on our steps and watch it rise in the east. I miss Camicazi's stupid and crazy ideas. I miss Fishlegs' sarcasm. I miss going to the Meathead Public Library. I miss trying to surf in the ocean with Fishlegs and Camicazi. I miss—I miss Berk!** " Hiccup hadn't realized he was crying until Toothless used his wing to wipe a tear from Hiccup's cheek.

" **It's going to be okay, Hiccup.** " Said Wodensfang quietly.

" **It always is**." Whispered Windwalker, a small smile creeping across his face.

" **If it isn't it's not the e-e-end.** " Stammered Toothless, his large eyes looking up into Hiccup's face, they seemed to shine with sympathy and Hiccup held the small dragon in his arms and for once Toothless let the sign of compassion go. He licked Hiccup's cheek with his warm pink tongue.

Wodensfang sat on Hiccup's lap, he patted it gently with his wing. Windwalker sneaked his long neck around the trio encircling them in warmth. His head rested near Hiccup and he used the opportunity to give Hiccup a gentle lick across his face. Hiccup smiled at Windwalker, some color restoring to his pale face.

The four stayed like that, watching the morning sun come up slowly over the East. For a moment, there was no rebellion, there was no danger. It was just a morning on Berk; a beautiful sun chasing the darkness away.


	2. Perusal of the Outcast

**I wasn't going to continue this story, but I several people seemed to be looking for a continuation (I'm flattered thanks, guys). So yeah this isn't exactly like the last story, but still, falls within the timeline of Hiccup's missing year. Thank you for the reviews and for following this story!**

 **Without further ado,**

* * *

 **Missing Year Chapter Two: Perusal of the Outcast**

The dragon was growing weary. She could tell that her beautiful phantoms movements were slowing as the long day began to drag into another night. The warrior herself wanted to stop her hunt, she was tired of soaring over the endless forests in search of a needle in a haystack. She wished that she could rest for a bit but her quest demanded her continuation. She had promised that awful man Alvin that the Outcast would be found and Valhallarama the Great was never one to forget her word.

But every day she searched seemed to pull into the night leaving her with little idea as to where the mysterious Outcast was. Thor's might thighs she hardly knew what the outcast looked like! She'd only seen the Outcast with a large roman hat with an obnoxious plume sprouting from the top. It seemed that the Outcast's face was to remain a mystery.

For the twelfth day in a row the sun began to set in the west and Valhallarama the legendary warrior was left with little idea on the Outcast's whereabouts. Her phantom was growing even more exhausted, the dragon's altitude was dropping steadily and Valhallarama could hardly blame the creature. No doubt twelve nights was a lot for anybody, even Valhallarama, and her legendary Silver Phantom.

As the sun was growing lower visibility began to decrease, "Head down," Valhallarama commanded her Phantom to land in a nearby forest, perhaps by some miracle the Outcast would be here in what seemed to be the only unsearched forest in the Archipelago. The Phantom drifted downward downwards past the treetops and down into the dark forest below.

The warrior perched on a high branch in a tree, perhaps she could spend the night here. Her phantom was certainly exhausted and she'd hate for her dragon to grow too weary to not be able to catch the Outcast. She decided to spend the night in the tree and desperately hoped that fate would be with her and that the Outcast would appear.

As the night droned on the warrior sat on her perch, her phantom was perched in a half sleep its first two eyelids closed but the third one remained open in case the Outcast or another threat was spotted. Hours began to pass, but still, the night remained still and silent, the only light created by the small crescent moon in the sky. The warrior began to wonder if fate really stood by her side, it seemed the warrior's luck was running out. However, as the hours wore on it seemed that her prayers had finally been answered as she heard a small rustle perhaps only a few feet away from the base of her tree.

The warrior peered her neck down to peek at the cause of the rustle. A boy, he seemed small and looked clearly on the run. She couldn't catch his face because he appeared to be looking at a small crumpled piece of paper. Across the top of the paper was a large red fish that seemed to wink up at Valhallarama as we stared down at the boy. Grimbeard's Map! The boy had Grimbeard's Map! She gasped, it seemed that this boy was the Outcast she was looking for.

She strained to look closer, next to the boy was a large riding dragon; a Windwalker she realized, the dragon must have been just before the cocoon stage because he still looked young but appeared to have shed his feathers. Around the boy's head fluttered two hunting dragons. They appeared to speaking in Dragonese and to her shock the boy seemed able to reply. The three appeared to be conversing about the map, Valhallarama shifted to get a better look. She nudged her Phantom who shifted wearily in his sleep, Valhallarama nudged him harder, finally jolting him from his slumber. Unfortunately, rustle they had caused seemed to have alerted the Outcast.

The dragons below yelped and seemed to immediately scramble to force the boy to put on the ridiculous hat with the plume. The boy was no doubt the Outcast, and he had the map. Valhallarama couldn't believe her luck, here was the Outcast nearly completely vulnerable out sitting directly beneath her perch. It was almost too easy.

The four seemed to have grown quiet. The smallest dragon seemed to whisper something, the boy shifted around searching for the danger. He looked hopeful as though perhaps it had passed.

But Valhallarama stood in her tree, her Phantom alert and ready for action, she waited, praying for the fates to bless her with the perfect moment. And it did.

"RROOOAOOWW!" Valhallarama leaped from her tree, her loaded bow quickly released arrows left and right at the Outcast,

Zzzziiiiiiinggggg

The Outcast dodged quickly and the arrow whistled past his nose and buried itself in a tree couple feet away. Valhallarama shot three more arrows that all cascaded off the Outcast's helmet. The Outcast quickly leaped onto his Windwalker and soared straight into the sky, but Valhallarama wasn't going to let go of her prize so easily.

She soared into the night air in pursuit of the black dragon. The Phantom let out a loud scream, though Valhallarama's ears were well trained but the piercing shriek still shook her eardrums. Bright blue flames poured out of the Phantom's mouth burning all that stood in front of it. Valhallarama reloaded her north bow preparing to strike again, when the Outcast let out an odd sound, "Mff! Mff! Mff!" Shrieked the Outcast as he careened through the sky. It appeared that the Outcast was struggling with the visor of his mask, he was indeed a bit of an odd outcast. Suddenly the black dragon jerked upward and began to climb towards the clouds. Valhallarama smiled, didn't they know that her dragon was one of the most superior shallow air dragons to ever exist. She would catch them no problem up there.

The warrior shot upward. The forest below became a distant smudge as she climbed higher and higher. Finally, her Phantom shot forward and leaped over the Outcast's head, as she did so she gripped the boy by the scruff of his waistcoat and shot back downward towards the forest floor.

She quickly gripped the Outcast against a fallen tree and grasped the map from his waistcoat pocket before throwing it to her Silver Phantom. The Phantom caught the map in its jaw and drifted upward away from the pair. Valhallarama watched her magnificent dragon disappear into above the treetops. The Outcast appeared to have taken advantage of her momentary distraction to wiggle out of his waistcoat and race out of reach. Valhallarama shrugged and drew her sword, the mighty Nevermiss. The Outcast drew his own sword, a small pathetic little thing in comparison to her jewel ridden Nevermiss.

Valhallarama lunged at the boy, and to her surprise, the blow was met and countered with one of the boy's own. Valhallarama felt her stomach do a flip, sure this boy was good at sword fighting but she'd beaten opponents twice his skill. So why did every lunge feel so wrong? The boy was left-handed but she'd beaten lefties before, besides she was the most talented sword fighter in the archipelago, she shouldn't be so put off by a mere child. But still, the feeling of discomfort remained.

One of the dragons uttered something in Dragonese, though Valhallarama had no idea what was being said she had a nasty feeling it had something to do with her. The Outcast didn't seem to agree with what was being said and tried to speak against it but only managed, "Mff, mfffff, mff, mfff, mmmmmmfffff!"

Valhallarama was so distracted by the boy's strange muttering that she hardly had time to react to the small green dragon that had dove in front of her and appeared to by trying to bite at her armor.

Meanwhile, the Outcast appeared to be trying to move her in a certain direction. Valhallarama was never one to fall for traps so she stood still defending herself against the Outcast's frantic (but impressive) maneuvers. A shout from a dragon behind her sent a chill down her spine, what was going on? The Outcast was tugging frantically at his helmet, desperate to retrieve it from his head. Suddenly, the helmet shot free and a boy stood before her. He shouted something in Dragonese. The boy was small, he had bright red hair and…blue eyes. The same blue eyes as Valhallarama. The great warrior gasped, "Hiccup?" she whispered, barely audible.

Her entire body froze, this was Hiccup, her only son. Hiccup, Hiccup was the Outcast. Oh, Thor, she had been trying to kill her only son! Her only son who had set the dragon Furious free, he even had a Slavemark for Thor's sake, and he appeared to be fluent in the banned language of Dragonese!

Valhallarama opened her mouth to scream but before she could she felt a heavy blow fall onto her head. The metal of her helmet clanged around her and she swayed on the spot before hitting the ground with a deafening thump.

The world spun around her but two facts seemed to remain clear;

Her only son was the Outcast she had been searching for.

And she had Grimbeard's map.


	3. Chief

**So I decided that I'd start answering a few reviews at the top of each chapter since I've seen some other lovely authors do so. But first off, sorry if Stoick's a bit out of character. I know he's generally not very literate or articulate but I wanted him to try and emulate Hiccup a bit in this one so?**

 **Reviews:**

 **Foxxlight: "** Ooh wow this story is great! I love the book series so I always get really happy when i find fanfic for it" **Thank you so much! Fanfiction is super rare for the HTTYD books. I do with people wrote more of it. But thank you!**

 **Miss No-Name (my buddy from Tumblr :P): "** Yo yo yo Miss History! It's thefellowshipofthedragonmark here, and I can safely say that I love this! The first chapter is super sad but totally sweet (Toothless in particular, adorable problematic munchkin that he is) and reworking the beginning of HTSADJ from Val's point of view is fascinating. Awesome, I love it! :D" **Aww thank you so much! I do seem to enjoy writing some angsty sad stuff don't I? I'm glad you enjoyed Val's POV, I've never done anything like that and I'm glad you liked it.**

 **Queen Bovine: "** This looks very promising! I've never seen a book-verse oneshot collection before. Please remember to give this poor child a break, though." **Thank you so much! Just for you I decided to give Hiccup a break and switch over to Stoick :P So glad you've enjoyed it!**

 **Thank you to everyone to reviewed! I do love answering them! So I bring you;**

* * *

 **Missing Year Chapter Three: Chief**

 _Hiccup. Hiccup, his only son. Hiccup, his heir. He'd abandoned Hiccup._

Stoick's mind screamed the name at him. "Hiccup! Hiccup! Hiccup!" it echoed off the walls of Stoick's skull and reverberated around vibrating his skull. How could he have done something like that? How could he have left Hiccup there? Of course, he would free the dragons! He'd do anything to have his son back. He'd fight the entirety of the Alvinsmen army if it could save them from the terrible fate that sat with them now.

He would free the dragons. Gods, of course, he would free the dragons. It seemed like such a small issue then. It seemed so minuscule, so unimportant. Five words and he could have won the fight. Five words and Stoick would have been King of the Wilderwest, and more importantly, five words and Hiccup would be standing beside him. Five words and he would be okay. Five words and every time Stoick closed his eyes he wouldn't see Hiccup dead. He would never see the boy hurt, he would never see Hiccup in chains. He would never be seeing his tribesmen in the Slavelands. Five words;

"I will free the dragons."

Five words. Stoick wished that that was how it went. Stoick wished he could turn back time and say those five words. What was the dragon's freedom compared to his tribesmen's safety? What was the dragon's freedom compared to his son?

In that moment in the ring, it had meant more to Stoick than anything else and he hated himself for it. He hated his cockiness. He'd been so sure he could have beaten Hiccup. He was so sure that he could've won. He was so sure.

But no, Stoick had done this. Stoick had done this. If Hiccup died because of this war, it was Stoick's fault. Stoick would have that blood on his hands forever, and he knew it. How different really was he from Grimbeard the Ghastly? Grimbeard had stabbed his son in anger and pride. How was Stoick much different from that? How was he supposedly a better ruler when he had repeated the very history he had pledged not to.

"Chief?" a small voice came from behind him. Stoick whirled, though he knew in his heart it was not Hiccup, but Fishlegs sounded oh so like him.

"Yes, Fishlegs." Said Stoick curtly, doing his best to hid his sadness. A chief must be strong.

"Chief, Hiccup will be okay." Stoick sighed as he heard the words.

"I…I want to believe that, Fishlegs."

"He will be. He's Hiccup, remember. He's always okay." Fishlegs smiled weakly.

"I've been a terrible father." Mumbled Stoick, "He ought to hate me."

"He doesn't."

"He should."

"No. Hiccup knows you do your best."

"If my best is turned my back on his and sending the entire tribe to the Amber Slavelands then I don't know what to say."

"How were you supposed to know that this would happen?" asked Fishlegs, "You answered the question for your people. You wanted to do what was best for them. You had no way of knowing this would happen."

"Even so," Stoick trailed off, his voice cracking a bit, "Perhaps I should spend a bit more time making decisions to help my son than the entire tribe."

"You did what any leader would do," Fishlegs argued,

"No, I did what a coward would do. I should have been a father, Fishlegs."

Fishlegs shrugged in response, "Perhaps you should have. But you can be that from now on."

"If there is a 'now on'," muttered Stoick.

"There will be." Said Fishlegs, "You'll see, it always turned out okay in the end. If it doesn't it's not the end."

Stoick smiled, as Fishlegs turned to walk out of the small dormitory towards the Great Dining Hall. The boy was nearly as optimistic as Hiccup, always trying to look on the bright side of things.

 _"_ _You'll see, it always turned out okay in the end. If it doesn't it's not the end."_

Hiccup had to be okay, right? No. Hiccup would be okay. Stoick would make sure of it. Stoick would fix this. He would never bow down to Alvin, he was still the chief at heart, and it was the time he started acting on it.

Stoick puffed up his chest and turned towards the Great Hall where Fishlegs had disappeared. He strode towards where the remainder of his tribe was sitting. Their heads were bowed, no one spoke. "Men." Stoick declared as he stepped into place before them. Slowly he saw their heads raise to meet him. Stoick took a deep breath and tried to imagine what Hiccup would say. Hiccup would know how to fix this. He had to be Hiccup.

"We are not slaves just because the world has turned against us. We do not allow men such as Alvin and the Witch to put in our place. We make our own place and I for one refuse to give up my chiefdom. I sincerely hope you stand with me and refuse to give up your blade. I would like nothing better than to have such fine warriors beside me once more." Stoick paused for dramatic effect, the warriors seemed interested, "I do not stand with a coward for my King. I will rebel and I will fight. I am the rightful chief of the Hairy Hooligans and you are my faithful warriors. I will not let that be taken away from us. The Hooligans will stand proud and we will not bow to a murderous king. We will fight like heroes for our freedom. And we will become heroes, for a hero is forever."

The was a brief silence, Stoick worried that they would be too afraid to stand with him. However, Stoick's fear was soon put to rest as Fishlegs stood. "I stand with the chief." He said, his broken glasses perched unevenly on the end of his nose. Before, Stoick had always believed that the boy could never have been a Viking, but after the day in the Sword Fighting Arena Stoick believed that the boy was more Viking than anyone else present.

"I stand with the chief." Gobber the Belch rose beside Fishlegs. His six and a half feet towering over those sitting.

"I stand with the chief." Said Baggybum Beerbelly. His eyes shining with a new light. Though Baggybum had spent his life fighting for his own chance at the chiefdom he had never disagreed with Stoick as a leader. And in times of peril such as this, he stood up to face his brother with a look of utter determination.

"I stand with the chief." Came a larger chorus of voices from the table before him. Even a small girl with a bear suit seemed to want to be an honorary Hooligan. She stood up beside Fishlegs and he smiled at her as she raised her hood to roar at those who still sat before Stoick. To Stoick's amazement, the rest left sitting rose at the girl's roar and stood before Stoick.

"I stand with the chief." The warriors chorused and Stoick smiled. He would get them out of here. He would make this right.

He would be a chief, and a chief protects his own.


End file.
